Boys' soccer: Fremont powers past Northridge

Plain City • Bouncing back after an overtime loss to your rival can be difficult, it can be even more difficult when you take a near two-week break afterward. But despite an 11-day hiatus from the regular season after a defeat at Weber, the Fremont Silver Wolves were able to win their second straight game Thursday afternoon with a 4-0 blowout of Northridge.

After 20 minutes Fremont (9-2, 5-1 Region 1) got the ball forward and opened up the scoring thanks to a blasted shot from midfielder Parker Huff. The senior put the laces to a ball laid across the top of the 18-yard box and put enough leg on it to cut underneath the swirling wind and ping in off the crossbar for a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute.

"To be honest, I didn't think I was going to be able to keep that thing down," Huff said about his distance shot. "Wind is the worst, but everyone had to play through it. I just tried to keep it low and keep it on frame."

Huff would get in on another goal in the 32nd minute, this time earning an assist after sending in a corner kick that found the head of senior captain Alec Ferrin, who nodded home the second Fremont goal of the afternoon.

The Silver Wolves would go up 3-0 just before halftime as junior midfielder Kofi Herrick outhustled the Northridge defense to get a foot on a deflected ball inside the 6-yard box in first-half stoppage time.

Fremont closed the door on the Knights when sophomore Talon Smith scored an outrageous goal in the 74th minute. After hitting an initial shot that careened off the cross bar, Smith stayed in an attacking position and got the ball back on his foot in front of goal. Avoiding a defender, Smith twirled around and got off a standing bicycle kick with his back at the goal that somehow found the back of the net for the fourth and final goal.

"I don't even know what happened — it was just a blur," Smith said. "I just really wanted to make up for my shot earlier when I missed one inside the six. After I shot it, I looked around and everyone was running at me and celebrating. I didn't expect that to find net."

Fremont head coach Fred Smith said that seeing the exuberant faces of his players was more important than the goal itself. He said he cares a lot more about the way his boys play and the confidence they have rather than the goal total.

"They weren't too happy after the way they played Sky View," Smith said. "We won 2-0, but they knew they could have played much better. That was a character builder because they knew they had to do something better than what they were doing. They finally found a spark today, which can be difficult to find after a long break like we just had. You'll always be happy after a 4-0 win, but I don't look at the goals, I look at what our attitude is afterward."